THE Bulawayo Magistrates’ Court 2 gallery was packed to the rafters yesterday, as a serial murder suspect appeared for initial remand on charges of killing two people in cold blood allegedly for ritual purposes.
BY SILAS NKALA
Rodney Tongai Jindu (26) was not asked to plead to murder when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tinashe Tashaya. He was remanded in custody to February 21 for routine remand.
The court heard that Jindu, who is already accused of killing Cyprian Kudzurunga (28), his childhood friend, and Mboneli Joko Ncube (30), allegedly gave Ncube, a neighbour, a lift from a supermarket in the city to Burnside.
Jindu allegedly later drew an Optima shotgun, serial number 13 752, from his motor vehicle before shooting Ncube twice in the chest, killing him instantly.
It is alleged that he then chopped the body into several parts before burying some of the parts in four different shallow graves. Jindu allegedly took some of the body parts to an as-yet-to-be-ascertained destination.
Investigations led to his arrest.
State papers indicate that Jindu is admitting to the crimes, while the firearm he used in the killings was recovered.
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The police have since declared that Jindu is not a good candidate for bail as he has pending cases of murder in court and they suspect he is likely to skip bail, and interfere with witnesses. They also said Jindu, at some point, attempted to escape from lawful custody at Nkulumane Police Station following his arrest, but was re-arrested within the premises.
His appearance in court came after police on Friday exhumed Ncube’s mutilated body. According to reports, the head, a hand and two legs had been chopped off.
Jindu is alleged to have also shot Kudzurunga of Queens Park at point-blank range using the same gun on January 29 before burying the body at a vacant residential stand in Burnside. After his arrest, he led police officers on indications of where he committed the offence.
Jindu is reportedly claiming he killed the two after being offered $20 000 and a Toyota Quantum vehicle by cross-border traffickers known as Omalayitsha.
